Randy Lewis Finds Fame Is Fleeting

August 4, 1985|By TIM POVTAK

At wrestling camps across the country this summer, youngsters line up so Randy Lewis can autograph their shoes. They wait patiently to stand alongside him and get their pictures taken. They ask to trade shirts.

Once the camp ends, though, Lewis walks outside the gym and goes about his business in anonymity. Even the kids at the camp, a day later, fail to recognize him.

Lewis, a gold medalist at the 1984 Olympic Games, is one of America's best athletes. He is a two-time NCAA champion from Iowa, which boasts the best college wrestling program in the country.

Because of his gold-medal performance, he has been able to make some money running summer wrestling camps. His name, in wrestling circles, means something. But outside those circles, his name means little. Wrestling has never been a glamor sport.

''The Olympics, the gold medal, really haven't changed my life that much,'' Lewis said. ''I didn't expect to make any big money off the Olympics, and I'm not. But I never even thought about that going in. Wrestling is my life.''

Lewis was on the 1980 Olympic team that didn't compete because of America's boycott. He expects to make the 1988 team that will compete in South Korea. Until then, he will return to Iowa and coach the Hawkeye Wrestling Club, an outlet for many former college wrestlers.